L 
B55 






Better Rural Schools means a Better Wisconsin No. 2 



The Rural School Problem 
Dissolved 

BY 

EDWARD A. FITZPATRICK 

Reprinted from La FoUette's Weekly of Jan. II, 1913 



Together With 

Governor's Message to 1913 Legislature (quotation) p. 2 

Editorials from La FoUette's Weekly 3 

Editorial from Farm and Fireside 1 5 

Governor Cox to the 1913 Ohio Legislature 1 8 

Editorial from Journal of Education (Boston) 20 



Reprinted for 

Training School for Public Service 

261 Broadway, New York City 

STATE BOARD OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS 

MADISON. WIS. 



<^J>j<»ct8d ?st 



GOVERNOR McGOVERN TO 1913 LEGISLATURE. 



In November 1911 the Board of Public Affairs invited the 
Training School for Public Service of the Bureau of Municipal 
Research of New York City to conduct an investigation of the 
country schools of Wisconsin. In response to this invitation 
and at a very trifling expense to the state this investigation has 
been made. It included a general examination of educational 
conditions in twenty-seven counties in widely separated por- 
tions of the state and a more detailed examination of the facts 
ebncerning 131 schools in thirteen counties. The report pre 
sents a vivid picture of all phases of rural school life: fiscal, 
educational and sanitary. It is a vigorous, unbiased statement 
of the facts as the experts of the Training School saw them, in 
clear, untechnical language. The recommendations given at 
the end of the report represent also the judgment of leading 
Wisconsin educators and the members of the Board of Public 
Affairs. I most respectfully recommend this report to your 
careful study and consideration. Those who made it are now 
engaged in a similar survey of conditions in the normal schools 
and high schools of the state. 

In my message to the legislature two years ago, speaking of 
the public schools, I said : 

"The common schools are now the weakest part of the 
entire system. Country schools, especially, have not kept 
pace with city schools. The country schools need better 
attendance, better instruction and better supervision." 

The report of these experts corroborates these conclusions on 
almost every page. There is evidence of financial irregulari- 
ties on the part of school directors, personal bias in the selec- 
tion of teachers, certification for political reasons, the main- 
tenance of small schools inefficiently managed and an almost 
total want of proper supervision. To remedy these evils a 
larger unit of administration is recommended which will make 
possible the professional county superintendent, professionally 
trained and selected teachers, more varied and richer courses 
of study, larger attendance and in general the adaptation of 
all the forward steps ^oi i^odern education to the rural schools. 



RPR 



iiJ 






^v^^ 



A RURAL SCHOOL SURVEY. 



We invite 3'ou to consider this quotation from the report of 
the Wisconsin State Board of Public Affairs on the rural 
schools : 

"From the earliest years the child reared in the country be- 
comes responsible for the performances of tasks and chores 
which must be done regularly and at definite times. Wood 
must be cut, the pigs and calves fed, the cows must be milked 
and many other similar duties must be done. Out of these 
responsibilities grow trustworthiness, habits of work, the power 
of concentration and application. The child comes to the rural 
school vigorous, active, with senses keen and a strong impulse 
to do. He has acquired considerable knowledge of his environ- 
ment. He has a splendid foundation for the study of geo- 
graphy, botan>', zoology. He has some knowledge of soils; he 
knows why one field is better than another for a certain crop ; 
in his observations of farm life he has been stimulated to reason 
upon causes such as wind, rain and sunshine. He is acquainted 
with the topography of the farm. He is familiar with plants 
and weeds on the farm. He knows clover, corn, potatoes, tim- 
othy and other plants and grasses. He knows how they grow, 
how they are harvested and of what use they are. He knows 
the farm animals, the trees, the flowers and many of the birds. 
All of these things have interested him because of their useful- 
ness and their power to inci*ease the family income. This ex- 
tensive fund of information he brings to the school. Here it 
does not fit in. His introduction to school work is the tradi- 
tional 'see the cat,' 'see the rat,' 'the cat sees the rat' and other 
worse than useless twaddle. Accustomed to doing things full 
of purpose, he fails to react under the stimulation of text book 
material to which his previous experience is unrelated. The 
teacher has failed to capitalize the child's experience. As a 
result, he becomes listless, indifferent and indolent." 

It says consequently : 

"Teachers fail to relate what they teach in school to what 
the child does and learns out side of school." 

That suggests one aspect of our common problem of making 
the schools better serve the child and the community. There 



— 4 — 

are other aspects. You will find them presented in a stimulat- 
ing way if you turn to page five and read Mr. Fitzpatrick's ac- 
count of the recent progress made in one state toward a solu- 
tion of this great problem. Mr. Fitzpatrick is an expert on 
school matters. He writes critically but constructively. His 
account of the survey of Wisconsin's rural schools recently 
made will be found of interest and value not alone in Wiscon- 
sin, whose population is one-half agricultural, but also in every 
other state where rural schools are found. 

"Better schools, better farms, better homes." That is the 
keynote of this thorough-going and helpful report. And, later, 
w^e shall print another article by Mr. Fitzpatrick on this sub- 
ject — an article that describes the excellent work that is being 
done in the rural schools of one Wisconsin county, under the 
inspiration and guidance of an efficient county superintendent 
— a woman of understanding and ability. 

Wisconsin has taken hold of the rural school problem in an 
enlightened way. The investigation and report of the Board of 
Public Affairs point out the way for the legislature now in 
session * * * Editorial, La Follette's Weekly, Jan. 11, 
1913. 



WHO MADE THE SURVEY? 



The investigation of Wisconsin's rural schools by the State 
Board of Public Aifairs was carried on by these men: Dr. 
William H. Allen, director of the Training School for Public 
Service conducted by the Bureau of Municipal Research of New 
York had general direction of the work ; Mr. S. G. Lindholm of 
the Training School was in immediate supervision. They had 
assisting them in the investigation : Mr. A. N. Farmer, formerly 
superintendent of schools, St. Cloud, Minnesota ; Dr. Horace L. 
Brittain, formerly superintendent of schools, Hyde Park, Mas- 
sachusetts; Dr. Edward A. Fitzpatrick, formerly of the New 
York High School of Commerce — all of the Training School; 
Mr. F. S. Staley, accountant. State Board of Public Affairs ; and 
for a part of the time, three Wisconsin school men, Messrs. 
A. H. Melville, J. H. Stevenson, and G. A. Giver. It was through 
the co-operation of Professor Edward C. Elliott of the Univer- 
sity that these men were secured. — Editorial, La Follettees 
Weekly, Jan. U, 1912. 



The Rural School Problem 
Dissolved 



A Constructive Program is Submitted by the Wisconsin Board 
of Public Aifairs for Correcting Existing Inefficiency and 
Developing Rural Schools Along Really Demo- 
cratic Lines. 

By Edward A. Fitzpatrick 

It is rather surprising that with Wisconsin's remarkable in- 
terest in governmental theory and administration, there had 
not developed heretofore a strong interest in educational ad- 
ministration as it relates particularly to the rural schools. If 
there is to be democratization of politics, there must first be 
democratization of learning. Consequently, any political ad- 
vance is conditioned on the intelligence of the body politic — 
which is, in Wisconsin, in turn conditioned on the character of 
the rural schools. Why the rural schools ? Because one and a 
half million of the two and a quarter millions people in Wiscon- 
sin are in rural communities. * 

But Wisconsin, with its usual courage, is facing its educa- 
tional problem. Now that the control of government has been 
placed effectively with the voters and the machinery of state- 
has been made to serve the interests of the people, the way has 
been opened to reconstruct the school system along the lines of 
democracy and efficiency. With a secure educational founda- 
tion, what may not be accomplished? Wisconsin's leadership 
in progressive measures now seems destined to be continued, 
for a long time. 



— 6 — 



Taking Stock 

In 1911 the Wisconsin legislature created the State Board of 
Public Affairs and made it the duty of such board "to investi- 
gate the materials and resources of the state and to promote 
their greatest use and highest development." With its vision 
of a better Wisconsin, its interest centered on the human ma- 
terials and resources of the state, and it was immediately evi- 
dent that the first step must be the investigation of the rural 
school — the fundamental institution of the state. Seeking an 




In the rural school No. 4 at Little Sluiiuilo there is a sewing machiiu' uliicli ^vas pre- 
sented to the school by one of its patrons. Here the girls find a way lo make 
schooling fit into the needs of every-day living. 

independent, unbiased investigation, entirely free from local 
factions, the IJoard of Public Affairs called in the Training 
School for Public Service conducted by the New York Bureau 
of Municipal Research. 

A report was submitted to the Board of Public Affairs and 
has since been issued. The report is not a matter of opinion; 
it is primarily a statement of fact in simple, clear, unteehnical 
language. It concerns itself with conditions rather than with 
theories. It has no interest in personalities. It contains, too, 
a constructive program. 



— 7 — 

The rural school problem is everywhere. Consequently it 
was thought worth while to state in some detail the solution of 
the problem offered in the report. The constructive program 
contains fifteen specific recommendations. These are easily 
grouped under the folloAving heads : 

1. Better educational supervision including a larger unit of 
administration. 

2. Better teachers. 

3. More and better teaching of agriculture and household 
arts. 

4. Better supervision and distribution of state money. 

5. Intelligent interpretation and publication of school facts. 
Back of all the recommendations, however, is a fundamental 

conception of the school in the community. The front yard — 
back yard of the school reach to the borders of the community. 
The community is very properly the laboratory for the school: 
no less inclusive one Avill do. The agricultural and domestic 
activities of the community are the proper material for the 
course of study in the rural school. Usefulness in the commun- 
ity during the period of schooling is an excellent way of prepar 
ing for usefulness in the community after the schooling period. 
But this phase of the subject has been already excellently 
treated by Mr. Herbert Quick in La Follette's. This article 
confines itself to the more distinctly school administration phase 
of the subject. 

Larger Unit of Administration 

The report shows strikingly the fundamental weakness of the 
district system — the impossibility of organizing a comprehen- 
sive scheme of rural education. And it is this very thing — the 
possibility of a comprehensive organization of rural education 
— which has commended the county as the unit of administra- 
tion. 

The Board of Public Affairs recommends an elective county 
board of education which shall have power — 

(a) To consist of three members to serve six years; 

(b) To serve without salaries; 

(c) To appoint the county superintendent ; * * * 

(d) To control county schools of agriculture and county 
training schools for teachers; 



— 8 — 



(e) To pass upon the centralization of school districts; 

(f ) To advise the superintendent to withhold state aid from 
small and inefficient schools whenever in its judgment the facts 
warrant it ; 

(g) To appoint an assistant to the county superintendent 
whenever the number of teachers in his district exceeds eighty. 

It is further rec6mmended that state aid be given to county 
boards of education to assist in the proper maintenance of the 
office of county superintendent on condition that : 




These are the farmer boys in Oconto County, Wisconsin, who won scholarships in the 
College of Agriculture by knowing how to make their schooling help th^m in prac- 
tical farm work. 

(a) An adequate salary is paid to the county superintendent; 

(b) An efficient clerk is appointed; 

(c) The county superintendent demonstrates efficiency to the 
state department of public instruction. 

The question has been raised that tlie appointment of a 
county superintendent is undemocratic. In a democracy the 
purpose of all government is the carrying out of the will of the 
people. The will of the people finds expression in law — prop- 
erly a matter of popular election. But laws remain mere good 
intentions unless there is adequate machinery to carry them 
into effect. This machinery, we call administration. In edu- 



— 9 — 

cation one of the most important cogs in this machinery is the 
county superintendent. The principle has long since been es- 
tablished in "Wisconsin that experts and administrative officers 
shall be appointive rather than elective. The success of the 
great commissions of the state is a standing proof of the wisdom 
of the determination. Why not carry the idea over to educa- 
tion? 

This should mean a non-political county superintendent, it 
should mean that present county superintendents would be free 
to give distinctly professional service — to meet educational 
problems in the light of educational theory and educational 
experience. 

Better Teachers 

It is a matter of special wonder that the employment of raw, 
immature girls in the country schools has not been discussed in 
the light of the standards which led to child labor legislation. 
Face the question frankly : Is not the employment of girls of 
sixteen years more or less in the arduous duties of disciplining 
and teaching a country school a phase of child labor? We leave 
the question with you for your spare moments. The State 
Superintendent says : 

"Every year 1,500 young girls of common school education 
and with only six weeks training in methods of teaching and 
school administration are facing their first school, yet the only 
supervision they receive is the brief visit of the county superin- 
tendent and the conferences at the institutes." 

The investigation of the State Board of Public Affairs con- 
firms the statement of the State Superintendent. The teachers' 
total teaching experience was brief, they rarely continued in 
the same school more than two years, their contracts were for 
one year ; their salaries were small, and what is worse, perhaps, 
they were practically without real supervision. 

The Board of Public Affairs recommends a gradual raising 
of qualifications, a different method of certification, more reg- 
ular and efficient supervision of teaching and higher salaries. 
Salaries and supervision are discussed elsewhere. 

There is probably no educator or any prominence in the 
United States who will maintain that graduation from a country 
school and six weeks training are sufficient academic or profes- 



— 10 — 

sional preparation for a teacher in any school. High school 
graduation and two years professional training is required as 
a desirable minimum for city schools and why not for country 
schools? But the immediate imposition of any such standard 
is impossible. Perhaps some day the country school will have 
teachers with such preparation. It is not, however, in the im- 
mediate future, and we must prepare for the day. The recom- 
mendations of the Board of Public Affairs is likely to hasten it. 
These recommendations are : 

(a) After January 1, 1915, ninth and tenth grade work 
should be required before taking the six weeks professional 
training courses ; 

(b) After January 1, 1917, graduation from a training school 
or department shall be required; 

(c) After January 1, 1919, ninth and tenth grade work 
should be required as entrance qualifications to training schools. 

Instead of permitting county superintendents to use ques- 
tion papers prepared by supply houses — which sometimes get 
into the hands of candidates before the examination — it is 
recommended that in case certificates are granted by the county 
superintendent, the examinations in academic subject should 
be given by the state board of examiners. 

After the teacher has been certificated, the process of getting 
a job throws light on the educational problem. When there 
are teachers of various gradf/s with varying professional and 
academic qualifications and Ij^ngth of experience, the directors 
have a chance of doing the ychool and community a service by 
careful selection. But whfjft is the situation. This interview 
tells the story. 

"School board members Ho not select teachers intelligently. 
Personal consideration usuaVly determines the choice. A good 
looking girl with a winning Way can easily gain the directors' 
approval. Even if she is not particularly pleasing in personal- 
ity, prevailing human nature makes it difficult to arbitrarily 
say to an applicant that she can't have the position. What the 
director usually says if not entirely satisfied with the appli- 
cant's appearance, is that if the other directors do not object, 
he won't. Having gained the complete or partial consent of 
the first board member seen, she goes to the second. To him she 
tells of her interview with the first member. The second mem- 
ber takes the position that he is willing if the others are. To 



— 11 — 

gain the consent of the third director is easy, as the teacher can 
say to him that the other two have no objection." 

Underlying the whole report there is a feeling tho it is no 
where definitely stated that school board directors should select 
the teacher only after consultation with the county superin- 
tendent. The assistance of the officers of a local normal school 
or country training school could be profitably sought. 

Agricultural Teaching 

In writing of the work of one of the county superintendents, 
the title adopted was, "Better Schools, Better Farms, Better 
Homes." That might very well be taken as the slogan of the 
whole report. The emphasis on domestic science and the house- 
hold arts generally, and on agriculture reveals this underlying 
principle : that the better school must mean finally the better 
farm and the better home. 

In accordance with this general idea it is recommended that 
the manual should be revised, eliminating non-essentials of the 
academic subjects and adding courses in manual training and 
domestic arts. A revised manual would be useless unless it 
were actually taught and the first requisite to that is a teacher 
who can teach it. Consequentl.y, it is recommended that the 
training of teachers of agriculture and domestic science is en- 
couraged by the offer of free scholarships. This means practi- 
cally that the state would advance money for living expenses 
to teachers during the period of preparation. Several schemes 
have been proposed for refunding the state for the amount but 
they need not be discussed. 

There is the further provision for getting properly trained 
teachers by including in the curricula of the country training 
school and other professional schools strong courses in agricul- 
ture, farm accounting and domestic science. 

Teaching needs effective supervision. Under the proposed 
plan there is to be state and county supervision of agriculture 
and domestic science. There shall be a supervisor of agricul- 
ture and a supervisor of household arts, who shall be members 
of the state superintendent's staff'. Among the things these 
supervisors might do is to suggest experiments, and serve as a 
clearing house for all fruitful ideas, and successful experiments. 
But for purposes of actual supervision two state supervisors 



— 12 



would be of little service. Consequently, the opportunity is 
given for local institutions to serve their respective communi- 
ties through the recommendation that in each county there shall 
be agricultural inspectors who are members of the faculties of 
the local county school of agriculture. The same kind of recom- 
mendation should, no doubt, be made with reference to local 
supervisors of domestic science who shall be members of the 
local county training school, normal school or similar institu- 
tion. In counties not having such institutions inspectors shall 
nevertheless be appointed. 





The old, bare tyye of building in 
which many of our farm boys 
and girls get their only schooling. 
Is yours like this? 



Tlie new type of rural school build- 
ing that is fast replacing the 
cheerless, badly lighted frame 

houses. 



State Funds 

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction says in his 
last report : 

' ' Taxation for school purposes in the country is very unequal 
in the different districts. ' ' 

(1) "Some districts do not tax themselves at all, but depend 
on the state and county money to run their schools. ' ' 

(2) "Cases have been found in which the district has thus 
accumulated a large bank account in addition to running the 
school." 

(3) "It should be added that in such cases the school is usu- 
ally run on a cheap basis. ' ' 

The Report says that the distribution of school funds is not 
the factor it should be in effecting educational improvement. 

(a) It gives no premiums to efficient schools. 

(b) It offers no inducements to the districts to bring all chil- 
dren to school who should be there, or keep them in school after 
they are enrolled. 



— 13 — 

(c) It disregards the necessity of efficient teaching. 

(d) It permits the expenditure of school money without pro- 
viding adequate control that the purpose of the expenditure 
shall be accomplished. 

(e) It supplies the machinery for education but ignores the 
purposes. 

(f) As long as the state demands that all children of school 
age must attend school, it assumes the responsibility of furnish- 
ing schools that make of the children useful and capable citi- 
zens. 

Pending a fuller analysis of the present apportionment of 
school money and of the total expense of putting such a plan 
in operation in city and rural schools, a classification of rural 
schools for subvention and inspection purposes is made. The 
plan is to divide rural schools into at least four classes. The 
amount of state aid increases according as the conditions of 
educational efficiency are improved. The Report says in detail 
regarding the schools of the first class. 

"These schools shall contain eight grades and where possible 
one or more high school years. The}'^ shall be conducted not 
less than nine months and have at least two teachers. The prin- 
cipal shall hold a state professional license. One assistant shall 
hold at least the first grade certificate. The principal shall be 
engaged for a whole year and shall be qualified to teach agri- 
culture during the summer months on plots on the home farms 
and shall conduct extension work among the adults in the com- 
munity. One of the assistants shall be employed for a whole 
year and shall be qualified to teach domestic arts ; shall conduct 
during the summer extension work among 'the girls and adults 
of the community. The principal shall receive a salary of not 
less than $1,000 per annum. One assistant shall receive a sal- 
ary of not less than $750 per annum, and no one less than $50 
per month." 

The facts regarding schools of the second and third classes 
may be tabulated thus : 

Length of term — Second class, 9 months ; third class, 8 months. 
License of teacher — Second class, 1st grade; third class, 2nd 

grade. 
Number of teachers — Second class, 2 ; third class, 1. 
Salaries — Second class, at least $50 and $45 ; third class, at least 
$45. ■ 



— 14 — 

It shall have library facilities, etc. 
Subventions — Second class, $250; third class, $100. 

All other schools are in the fourth class which receive no sub- 
vention, may be closed bj^ the county superintendent if ineffici- 
ent, and is liable to lose its proportion of 7-10 mill tax. 

Publicity of School Facts 

"Reports of school facts," says the Report, "are lacking in 
intelligent purpose." 

The purpose of the j^resent collection of facts is chiefly to 
furnish information for the distribution of state money. This, 
of course, should be done, but other important questions should 
be answered. The present State Superintendent's report offers 
very scant assistance to those whose duty it is to supervise tru- 
ancy, to fit courses of study to the maturity of children in the 
school, and to know how far the school ministers to the needs, 
of the children. Such fundamental questions as the age at 
which children enter or leave school, how many complete the 
grades, the number of days they attend, are left unanswered. 
The fact concerning the different kinds of schools are not sep- 
arated, but are put into one basket, shaken and summarized 
into one total — this is glaringly true of the roseate view of sub- 
stantial salary increases given in the report. Finally to justify 
expenditure for school needs, opinions only, not facts, can be 
quoted. The people are left in unnecessary ignorance of the 
needs, shortcomings and gains of their schools. 

The Report recommends that the school reports should be 
standardized and as far as advisable conform to the forms sug- 
gested by the United States Bureau of Education. Annual and 
more frequent bulletins containing school facts should be is- 
sued by the State Superintendent. The excellent monthly newa 
bulletin should be extended in scope and should contain cur- 
rent reports of school facts, which usually have to Avait for the 
biennial report for publication. 



— 15 — 



WITH THE EDITOR. 



FARM AND FIRESIDE. 



I wonder if my readers ever get tired of my constant rever- 
sion to the topic of the rural schools? Do I see a lot of hands 
shooting into the air? Please do not snap your fingers, chil- 
dren! I can see your hands perfectly. You're all tired of it, 
or you all want more. 

Perhaps we had better not let you tell me just now, for I have 
more to say to you on the subject. It all comes from the re- 
port of the Wisconsin Board of Public Affairs, entitled "A Con- 
structive Program for the Rural Schools of Wisconsin." 

"A Constructive Program" — that sounds like sweet music 
to me. When I went to a rural school, we didn't have any set 
daily program. We just recited when the teacher called our 
classes. Of course, we had a program, but it was never re- 
duced to writing and posted on the wall, as it is now. And, of 
course, a program isn't any the better for being posted on the 
wall. It is more convenient for reference, however, when the 
patrons of the schools or the county superintendent pay us a 
visit. 

We had no course of study. Personally, I scooted through 
McGuffey's First, Second, Third and Fourth Readers, and 
Monteith & McNally 's Geography before I mastered Ray 's First 
Part Arithmetic. A course of study is a constructive program, 
as far as it goes. It would have been better for me, as a mathe- 
matician, if I had been "whoaed up" a little in my reading 
mania and made to buckle down to number work. 

So the need of a constructive program, even in the district 
school, is plain. In Wisconsin the defects in the rural schools 
Tvere recognized by the State Board of Public Affairs. That 



— 16 — 

is a great board, composed of the broadest and wisest men in 
the State, and when they became convinced that the rural 
schools are no better than they should be, they proceeded to 
make a study of them. We people who are busy at making a 
living can't study these things as they ought to be studied — it 
is out of the question. We haven't the time. Therefore, we 
ought to be glad that there exists a body of men who can stand 
off and take a look at us and tell us what's the matter. 

"Presint Ar-r-r-r-ms ! " commanded the Irish drill-sergeant 
to a company of rookies. 

The awkward equal presented arms every which way. 

' ' Hivins, ' ' roared the sergeant. ' ' What a presint ! Advance^ 
three paces, an' about face, an' take a look at yersilves." 

It was a difficult maneuver to carry out. The advantage of 
having a Board of Public Affairs like that of Wisconsin is that 
it enables us to stand off and take a look at ourselves. 

What is true of the Wisconsin rural schools is true of most 
of our States. I think the rural schools of Wisconsin far be- 
hind the city schools and higher institutions of the State, but 
they are far better than a lot of country schools I wot 5f. Per- 
haps they are about fair to middling. The State Board of 
Public Affairs by which the people of the State are standing 
off and looking at themselves, after an investigation of twenty- 
seven counties in widely separated parts of the State, and a 
detailed examination of conditions in one hundred and thirty- 
one rural schools of thirteen counties, recommend: 

First, a change in the sort of school boards. 

That county boards of education be elected to serve six years 
without salaries. 

This board to appoint the county superintendent from an ap- 
proved list made up by the civil service commission. 

This is worth thinking about ; a county board, a county sup- 
erintendent of the same general sort of man as the present city 
superintendent. What's the objection? Wouldn't we get bet- 
ter men on the whole on school boards than now? And 
would 't it be a good thing to eliminate the superintendency 
from politics? Jessie Field made Page County, Iowa, a model 
for its rural schools. As long as she stayed in the office, she 
was reelected time after time. 

Miss Field is taking up other work, however. Page County 
is losing her. The office at once becomes the object of a poll- 



— 17 — 

tical struggle. When this is written, the election has not been 
held— but there is no good reason to believe that Miss Field is 
to have anything like a worthy successor. There is every rea- 
son to fear that her work will not go on, and that the schools 
she made a model will retrograde to the common level. If there 
had been a county board to hire a successor from a list of edu- 
cators compiled from the successful rural school systems of the 
nation, the work would have gone on. . 

The Wisconsin proposal would seem to be a step toward bet- 
ter county superintendents. 

The Wisconsin program does not stop here. It suggests that 
the county board have control of the teaching of agriculture 
and the appointment of assistant county superintendents in 
certain cases. 

Another Wisconsin suggestion is that the State give aid to 
rural schools in the form of money on condition that the county 
pay the county superintendent adequately, that the county 
hire a good clerk for the superintendent, and that the superin- 
tendent shows himself to be eflficient. 

It is impossible for me here to tell in detail what this * ' Con- 
structive Program for the Rural Schools of Wisconsin" em- 
bodies. I wish every rural school teacher, every member of a 
rural school board and every county superintendent in the 
United States would ask the State Board of Public Affairs, 
Madison, Wisconsin, for a copy of it. It is a program planned 
by broad-minded men with no object in view other than the 
welfare of the schools. As such it seems to me to be a fine thing 
for all of us to study. 

HERBERT QUICK. 



INTELLIGENT— PROSPERITY— PROGRESS 

' ' Our country has changed from a new land of bound- 
less virgin natural resources to a country which must 
husband its inheritance. The State of Wisconsin is 
changing as rapidly as any portion of this country. 
* * * We cannot dodge the fact that our future 
commercial prosperity and the future general welfare 
of this country and of this state depend not on our nat- 
ural resources alone but MAINLY UPON THE IN- 
TELLIGENCE AND THE ABILITY OF THE PEO- 
PLE of this country and of this state. ' ' — Report of the 
Wisconsin Commission for the Extension of Industrial 
and Agricultural Training. 



18 — 



GOVERNOR COX TO THE 1913 OHIO LEGISLATURE. 



"Proposal Twenty-seven amends Article VI of the eonstitn- 
tion as follows : 

'Provision shall be made by law for the organization, admin- 
istration and control of the public school system of the state 
supported by public funds.' 

"Because of its far-reaching influence and the further fact 
that the schools form the real base to our institutions and civi- 
lization, this constitutional change imposes upon the legislat- 
ture a great responsibility. It will be noted that provision is 
made for the organization of a school, system in Ohio. 
"Whether this phraseology was so intended or not, still in plain 
words it exhibits a very serious lack in our government 
scheme, because Ohio really has no uniform school system. In- 
stead, we have a variety of school systems, and the truth is 
that Ohio does not rank with many of the best states in the 
Union in the matter of her public schools. This subject sug- 
gests possibilities of such stupendous moment to the people 
that legislation should be preceded by investigation. It is my 
judgment that a complete school survey should be made of the 
state. This plan has been followed by a number of states in 
the last few years and the conditions existent in many parts 
of these commonwealths have been surprising to the people. 
If a survey is made in Ohio there will be found such a num- 
ber of school systems as to clearly index the disorder and in- 
congruity of our present archaic structure. No one will deny 
the need of complete uniformity in the method of teaching, 
sanitation, etc. Other States have found it necessary to with- 
hold the distribution of the state common school funds from all 
districts until they have full}' complied with the laws relative 
to the length of term, minimum salary, institute pa.y, janitor 
service, compulsory attendance and all reports required by 
the department of public instruction. It is the executive re- 
commendation that a commission consisting of not less than 
three persons, to be selected by the governor, be created for 
the purpose of conducting a complete school survey of the state 



— 19 — 

and reporting a plan of school supervision. The Bureau of 
Municipal Research in New York City has been of untold as- 
sistance to every state undertaking this great work, and we 
have the assurance of co-operation from experts employed by 
that bureau when we begin here. It is pertinent to quote a 
statement recently received from William H. Allen, one of the 
directors of this organization. He says : ' You may be inter- 
ested that following the announcement of our report several 
weeks ago on Wisconsin rural schools, requests have come to 
us already from thirty-four states. Eighty-two cities, several 
normal colleges and many universities are using the report for 
text-book purposes to interest teachers in looking for deficien- 
cies in their own environment and methods.' The result of 
this survey will enable the state to provide and maintain a 
modern and uniform school system and bring to every com- 
munity the advantages wrought by the best thought and re- 
search. The commission should by all means be empowered 
to work out some system of standardizing text-books in order 
that the expense of education might be reduced and the recur- 
rent school book scandals made a thing of the past. ' ' 



A NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT. 

If you can, be sure to get the Report on Conditions and Needs 
of Rural Schools in Wisconsin made to the Wisconsin Board of 
Public Affairs by the New York Training School for Public 
Service. Investigators visited 131 schools in thirty-one coun- 
ties ; studied the offices of county superintendents and offices of 
district school board. Personal investigations were made in 
twenty-seven counties, of the records of county superintendents, 
of the records of district school boards; report specifically on 
the sanitary and educational conditions of 131 rural schools. 
Unified records have been filed giving explicit information con- 
cerning lighting, heating, ventilation, care, sanitation, grounds, 
library, and teachers in each of the 131 rural schools. 

This investigation has been so complete, so adequate, so defi- 
nite and specific that nothing is left for any one to question. 
No one dares to attack this report. There w^re expert investi- 
gators in Wisconsin, and expert opinions, a radically different 
proposition. It is clearly demonstrated that it is possible to 
have expert investigation as well as expert opinion. The State 
Board of Public Affairs, Madison, Wisconsin, issues the report. 

Journal of Education, Boston, Mass. 



20 — 



THE COUNTRY CHILD SHOULD HAVE, AS A 
MATTER OF RIGHT, AS GOOD AN EDUCA- 
TION AS IS OFFERED ANYWHERE. 



All children should have: 



What has your child 

or your neighbor's 
child in the country? 



1. Well-trained, well-paid permanent teachers 

2. A ten months school term 

3. Abundant facilities for organized recrea- 

tion 

4. Beautiful sanitary buildings 

5. Excellent large libraries 

6. Expert supervision of the individual school 

and of the system of schools 

7. Medical inspection of school children to 

prevent the spread of disease and the 
elimination of physical defects 

8. Rich, well-graded course of study actually 

taught 

9. Practical instruction and training in agri- 

culture or other industries 

10. Community interest in maintaining or se- 
curing educational and sanitary stand- 
ards in schools 



THE REMEDY 

The constructive program 
described within (pp. 5-14) is 
THE remedy. 



Better Rural Schools means a Better Wisconsin 

*.^?^f*^^°*l*'*o5i^^"l'" "^^^ ^^^^^^^ *^^^ »*«Po»t on rural schools 
Airrc ''''^ *^^ ^^^^^ BOARD OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, MADISON, 
WIS.; others may secure it for 12 cents from either the State Board 
or from the TRAINING SCHOOL FOR PUBLIC SERVICE RTTR^Tr 
OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH, 261 fiSoADWAYrNEW Y^^ 



